Mission from The Soul King
by asakociel
Summary: A shinigami saved and sent on a mission to another dimension by the Soul King. How will her presence affected Konoha's fate and its inhabitants? Crossover NarutoxBleach. OC.
1. Background

**Character Information**

**Name : Kujou Yurika**

Race : shinigami

Gender: Female

Hair

- Colour : black with dark-blue tint

- Length : waist

- Style : tied in high ponytail decorated with snow-crystal-shaped hair ornaments

Eyes : Silver with light-blue pupil

Height : 172 cm

Weight : 59 kg

Age : ± 700 years

Clothes

- Top : white shitagi, black kosode

- Bottom : black hakama, light-blue patterned obi

- Shoes : white tabi, waraji

- Acc. : gray fingerless gloves, lieutenant badge

Intelligence

- IQ : 188

- Education : Spiritual Arts Academy

Ambitions : cure Juushiro's illness

Hobbies : playing shogi, mind games

Likes

- Food : kuri kinton, sake sashimi, gyoza, amazake

- People : shrewd, laidback

- Situation : relaxing

Dislikes

- Food : natto, mushrooms, ramen

- People : stupid, arrogant, traitor, too perfect

- Situation : emotional

Personality

- Love/appreciation of themselves? _Quite high._

- Perception of themselves? _She recognized her intelligent and talent in Kido and Hoho but she had to work harder to raise her Zanjutsu and Hakuda to an acceptable level. She knew could be over-confident and reckless when something caught her attention and that she depended on Shunsui and Juushiro to pull her out when things got too dangerous._

- Defense mechanism? _Repression or suppression, and intellectualization. Blocking unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and impulses, either unconsciously or consciously. Sometime later, those repressed thoughts or feelings would be thought over without any emotions to distance themselves from those thoughts or feelings._

- How are they when alone? _She is more serious and her mind often wandered on recent problems or memories._

- Do they treat everyone the same? _Are they nicer/meaner/funnier/etc. with certain people? If so, why is it? Generally, she treats everyone with smile and teasing but she only shows her serious side to people she considered equals._

- Burden/secret?

- Introvert/extrovert? _Extrovert with few moments of introverts._

Rank : Former Lieutenant of 13th Division, Former Lieutenant of 4th Division

Combat

- Weapons : zanpakuto, hidden dagger

- Reiatsu level : above average

- Kido : effective in using reiatsu, perform high-level Kido without incantation, invent Kido, master healer

- Hoho : Shunpo master

- Zanjutsu : expert

- Hakuda : combatant

Zanpakuto

- Name : Watatsumi (daisho)

- Type : Elemental, ice-based

- Shikai : Breathe, Owatatsumi

- Bankai : Owatatsumi no Sanjin

Background:

Kujou Yurika was a distant cousin to the head of a lesser noble family. The Head of her family dislike her because she had been a strong candidate for the Head position. She was sent to the Academy to become shinigami in the hope she would die on mission. After graduating within three years, she chose the Fourth Division to subtly spat at her family's intention to kill her off. Over the years serving in the Fourth, she started to adopted part of her Captain's persona. Sometimes, a smile could scare people more than a scowl. It also had the added benefit of concealing her emotions.

Her skill in Kido and Healing quickly pushed to the position of Seated Officer and eventually Lieutenant. It was during a mission with the Thirteenth Division that she found another goal besides annoying her family, especially the Head of her family. Ukitake Juushiro saved her from a band of hollow during patrol and she saved him in turn when he had a short relapse with his illness. A week later, she took over the empty Lieutenant position of the Thirteen Division. That was the start of her friendship with Juushiro and Shunsui.

- break -

- break -

**Name : Nara Nozomi**

Race : human

Gender: Female

Hair

Colour : dark brown

Length : shoulder

Style : spiky ponytail with braid at one side

Eyes : Silver with light-blue pupil

Birth : 6 December YNT-6

Age : 5 years older than Shikamaru's generation

ANBU : lynx (yamaneko)

Area of interest:

- Medical ninjutsu, medicine, poisons

- Fuinjutsu

- Nara ninjutsu

Combat: (745/900)

- Intelligence : high

- Sense : chakra sensor

- Chakra level : above average

- Chakra control : high

- Weapons : senbon, ninja wire

- Taijutsu : Academy, Nara style, Hakuda

- Speed : high

- Genjutsu : detect and release

- Ninjutsu : medical, Nara-style, Suiton, Doton


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

I don't own any characters or storyline from Bleach or Naruto. The OC (Kujou Yurika/Nara Nozomi, Nara Hideki, and Nara Asami) is mine.

**Author Notes**

I made some changes to the storyline, including the age and personality of some characters. I put up the character information for my main OC, Kujou Yurika/Nara Nozomi in the background chapter. As they are the same person, some things (i.e. personality, likes, dislikes) will be the same for those two and unwritten in Nara Nozomi's information.

**Chapter 1: Childhood for an Old Soul**

_"__Lieutenant Kujou Yurika of the 13th Division, you are currently under investigation. You may not speak except to answer our question."_

_A woman – who looked to be in her twenties – stood at the centre of a dimly lit room where she faced the screen with kanji of 'One' covering the person behind it. Her silver eyes narrowed with cautious suspicion. What were these geezers talking about? She hadn't broken any of their precious laws. _

_"__Where were you at 11 last night?" Screen 'Eleven' asked._

_The woman kept her features blank and body deceptively relaxed as she answered in an even tone, "I was out training in the woods of District 42 North Rukongai."_

_"__Against a group of shinigami patrol from the 5th Division?" Screen 'Forty-two' asked snidely._

_"__What? No..." Silver eyes flashed with angry disbelief at the accusation._

_Screen 'Fourteen' cut her off, "The 5th Division 4th Seat Aizen Sousuke has informed us of your transgression."_

_"__That's a lie!" The woman shouted as she whirled around to face the speaker._

_"__You do not have the right to speak without being asked, Lieutenant," Screen 'Thirty-one responded sharply, "Besides, we have two other witnesses – out of the ten shinigami in the patrol. Aizen-san was the least injured and as such he was the one who reported about what had occurred. One of them just died this morning and the other was still in treatment."_

_Silence rang loudly in the room as Yurika digested those statements. How could there be witnesses when she hadn't done it? Bribery or blackmail? Would anyone risk death just to frame her?_

_"__Who..." She started to ask only to be cut off by a sudden presence of a shinigami wearing the Onmitsukido uniform behind her._

_"__Reporting in! Signs of Lieutenant Kujou's shikai release have been found at the forest two miles west from District 42 North Rukongai. Traces of the victims' reiatsu have also been found at the same place."_

_That was..._

_"__Impossible," she whispered softly. She would have felt it if there were other shinigami around her and she had been alone since yesterday evening._

_"__That settles it. I will now sentence you!" Screen 'One' declared, "13th Division Lieutenant Kujou Yurika, for the crime of attacking and killing eight shinigami and causing grievous injury to two shinigami from the 5th Division patrol group in the 42nd district of Rukongai, you will be stripped of your zanpakuto and imprisoned in Underground Prison 1, Hyouno (Outside Field)."_

_The next week became a blur to Yurika as she waited numbly in the Penitence Tower before being sent to the Underground Prison, all the while alternating between agonizing over her captain's and friend's reaction to her supposed crime – Oh Shinji, what will he think of her? The victims had all came from his division – and controlling her emotions over her treatment by the Central 46. How did this happen? She doesn't even know who her supposed victims were. Except Aizen, that is. That little, conniving brat! She had always been suspicious of him. No one is as perfect as he appears to be. He must be the one behind this...this farce of a trial! Damn him to hell!_

A light smack against her body startled a cry from her mouth and she opened her eyes to a large blob of blue (the doctor's surgical uniform).

"Congratulations, it's a healthy girl!" The person – a woman – holding her exclaimed enthusiastically.

Confusion filled her mind at that sentence. Where was she? What happened to her sight? Who was the person holding her? Owatatsumi? She called out, but silence answered her call and panic enveloped her when she couldn't feel her partner's steady presence.

Without her realizing it, she had been outwardly crying since the moment she opened her eyes. It was her body's way of voicing her confusion but she didn't know that. Not now, at least. Her attention returned to the outside world when she was handed over to another pair of arms. The person brought her close to their face and her blurred sight improved with the distance. It was a man this time. He looked normal – not too handsome, not ugly either – with brown hair and brown eyes, if not for his hairstyle which was tied high on his head in a spiky ponytail. That was the only things she could note before she drifted off to sleep.

**- Nozomi Age 1 -**

Nara Nozomi, formerly Kujou Yurika, opened her eyes when she felt the arms around her shifted.

"Good morning, Zomi-chan. How's your nap?" Her father, Nara Hideki, murmured fondly.

Nozomi blinked once and smiled sweetly at her father.

It had been a year since her arrival in this new world as a newborn. She still suffered from bouts of loneliness every time she remembered her partner but it wasn't as strong as when she was still in the Underground Prison. She didn't know what the Soul King had done but she was really glad for that alone, although her current situation left much to be desired.

After her confusion at the beginning, she had gradually remembered her previous predicament and the King's visit. She had spent the first few days of her new life cursing the King to high heaven for making her a helpless infant. It was embarrassing to have neither bladder control nor motor control. She was mortified the first time – and times after that – she soiled her nappy and couldn't forget it however she wanted to. She hadn't been able to look her father in the eyes for a week. Her first attempt at speaking had resulted in a bunch of butchered words, and she had kept silent since then until she got a semblance of control – with lots and lots of practice when she was supposed to be asleep. Those...humiliation caused her to hold her bladder as long as possible every day and insist – as much as a baby could – to be potty trained when she reached the 12 months mark and she could do it herself now. She had been able to speak clearly since 6 months ago but kept her sentences simple because normal babies didn't speak complex words.

Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to like her new father. He was lazy at many things but he always spent the effort of taking care of her. Although her mother, Nara Asami nee Yamamoto, was an entirely different matter. The woman was beautiful but her personality left much to be desired. From what she heard, Asami was the perfect loving woman until she married her father. Apparently, she only married him for the prestige of getting one of the closest people to the Nara clan head. Her father's position in the clan council only added to the benefit. She was really ashamed of her mother. It was woman like her mother that made females looked bad.

Her father didn't divorce her mother because he didn't want her to grow up without a mother. She would have to tell him otherwise as soon as she was old enough for it not to seem weird. After all, toddlers weren't supposed to understand the concept of divorce. Pity. She wanted to get rid of her mother as soon as possible. Maybe her father would get married again then. He didn't deserve a miserable married life.

"What do you say we go to the park?" Her reminiscence was brought to a halt by the question from her father.

Nozomi inwardly grimaced at the idea of playing with other babies but accepted because it was a whole lot better than being cooped up in the house. Between her too frequent naps, she hadn't seen many changes of scenery. The most interesting place was her father's workplace – the Hokage Tower, they called it – but the park was an acceptable destination.

The streets of the village were empty because it was still early although the market was quite crowded already. Nozomi enjoyed the walk to the park because she could do some people-watching. Most of what she knew about the village came from listening to people's conversation. Even shinobi wouldn't think to filter any information in front of a baby, and she took advantage of that shamelessly.

"Good morning, Uchiha-san." Her father's greeting shook her from her thought. They had arrived in the park and in front of them sat a woman with long, raven hair and black eyes. Another baby with the same colourings rested in the fold of her arms.

The woman turned to look at them and smiled. "Good morning, Nara-san. Is this your daughter?"

"Yes, this is Nozomi. She is fourteen months old," Hideki stated proudly and looked down at her, "Why don't you greet Uchiha-san, Zomi-chan?"

The arms around her shifted so she was sitting against her father's chest. She looked up into the woman's eyes and said softly, "Hello, Uchiha-san."

She noticed the surprise flitting through the dark eyes before the woman plastered a smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Nozomi-chan. This is my son, Itachi. He is only older than you by three months," she looked at her son, "Look, Itachi, Nozomi-chan can already speak too. How about you two play together?"

"Yes, Mother," Itachi said calmly then he wiggled out of her mother's embrace and landed lightly on the ground.

"Go play with Itachi-kun, Zomi-chan," Hideki carefully set her daughter on the ground, "Don't stray too far."

That was the beginning of a bond that would affected the fate of the Uchiha Clan in the future. Itachi regarded Nozomi as his best friend although there were times he doubted Nozomi regarded him the same. There were times she seemed so distant – not only to him but also everyone else – and sad – not the crying kind of sad but the silent mourning kind of sad – and there were also times she treated him like a younger brother although she was actually younger than him.

Unknown to him, those feeling were true because Nozomi had lived as a soul many times longer than even the Hokage. Her body might be young but her mind, her soul was old. Nozomi had decided from the start that she wouldn't get too close with anyone because this wasn't her dimension. Her soul would go back to Seireitei in the end and she wouldn't meet anyone from this dimension ever again. If she got close with someone, it would only hurt more when she fulfilled her end of the deal with the Soul King.

**- Nozomi Age 4 -**

Nozomi walked along the semi-crowded street of Konoha until she saw a familiar head of raven black hair. A glint entered her eyes although her expression didn't change from its usual serene smile. Her steps became lighter and she slipped fluidly between the villagers as she approached her target silently. She followed a foot behind her vic...playmate for five seconds to give him a chance to sense her but the target couldn't feel the danger behind him.

"Tachi-kun," she sang into her target's ear.

Itachi jolted and let out a surprise cry as he turned around. Nozomi chuckled softly at the slight pout on his face.

"Why are you always surprising me?" Itachi mumbled.

Nozomi plastered her smile back in her face. "Because you always give such interesting reaction, Tachi-kun."

Itachi eyed her warily and asked, "What do you want, Nozomi-chan?"

"I'm bored," she drawled then her smile tilted slightly into a smirk as her eyes glittered with repressed glee, "Entertain me."

Obsidian eyes widened and the boy took a step back. He had to suppress a whimper as black orbs flitted about searching for escape routes. The wall. It was only several feet away and his mother had just taught him tree walking three days ago. Without hesitation, he ran for the building and went up the wall. He knew that even the smallest pause will get him captured and tortured. It had happened so often he had lost count, but this time he could surely lose the she-devil.

Many gasps came from the crowd of civilians and shinobi alike as it wasn't normal for a child – not even an Academy student yet – to master the tree-walking exercise. Whispers started and gossips spun for the rumour mill that would have reached every man and woman in the village by sunset, except they were living under a rock.

As this was going on, silver eyes carefully tracked the progress of the boy scaling the buildings. "Five, four, three," Nozomi whispered to herself.

As the countdown reached one, she blasted off from her position and landed in a crouch on the wall. She used the built up momentum to shot after her prey and in no time at all, she was standing beside the dark-haired boy. Itachi gaped at her in disbelief as he failed to form words.

"This game of cat and mouse is quite boring," Nozomi mock-pouted but then she brightened, "But I have more interesting games. Come on."

She put her hand on Itachi's shoulder and towed him after her. Itachi resignedly followed her to his doom. He would never be able to get away from her, he wailed mournfully in his mind.

Down below, another round of whispers started after a moment of shocked silence. Itachi was the upcoming genius of the Uchiha clan, but for a Nara to be equal to him... The Nara clan might be full with genius, but they were known far and wide for their laziness. A child of Nara mastering chakra control exercise – or any exercise for that matter – was definitely unheard of.

That evening, Nozomi hummed softly as she almost skipped home. The day had been productive – for her – as evidenced by the stack of new photos in her storage scroll. All of them were snapshots of her playmate's embarrassing and hilarious moments – all of them from today. Some will be added to her collection – just in case she ever needed emergency fund – and the rest will be auctioned off at the Itachi Fans Society. How a five years old child could have a fan base she didn't know and didn't want to understand.

"I'm home," she greeted the silent house.

A frown marred her face as disapproval clouded her eyes. Her mother was out, again. That greedy woman must be squandering her father's money on useless things, also again. Her father was too soft on handling her mother in his effort not to let her know how much her mother didn't love them. She should get rid of that woman in the near future if she didn't want her family to be destitute. Her father might be one of the highly paid shinobi but her mother had the ability to use up that hard-earned money.

Her feet took her to the kitchen as she plotted her parent's divorce – or her mother's demise, she wasn't picky. She made a large onigiri with umeboshi filling for snack. Her 'adventure' with Itachi today had made her rather hungry and she needed to refill energy anyway. She absently chewed the ball of rice as she went to her room, but she halted at the entrance to the living room. Sitting across each other at the table were her father and the Clan Head. She blinked and checked the sky outside from the opened shoji door leading to their herb garden. The sun just began to set. Her gaze returned to the men in the room.

"Good evening, Father, Shikaku-sama," she gave her clan head a respectful nod then stared at her father, "You are early."

"Yes, there's something we have to discuss." It was rare for her father to be this serious but it was the worry in his eyes that made her tense. This something must be really important.

Nozomi took the seat to her father's right and waited for one of the men to break the silence. Hideki raised an eyebrow at Shikaku and the Nara Clan Head muttered a 'troublesome' before his voice turned serious.

"There has been rumour about you and Fugaku's kid mastering the tree-walking exercise. Is it true?" There was a real curious note in his question.

"I won't call that mastery, Shikaku-sama. But we can do it, yes," Nozomi replied defensively.

"I didn't know you can do that, Zomi-chan," Hideki said in consternation. He had been hoping the rumour was just an exaggeration like usual. He didn't like the repercussion of that rumour. His daughter was still too young.

Nozomi glanced at her father in surprise when she detected his dismay. She had thought he would be proud of his daughter mastering a genin-level skill. "I learned it from one of the scrolls in the library, Father. It's not too difficult."

The two men exchanged glance then Shikaku asked, "How much time did you spend to learn it?"

"An hour, I think. Maybe two," Nozomi answered slowly then added, "Is there something wrong?"

"In light of your and Itachi-kun's skill, the Council allow the two of you to enter the Academy early." Shikaku suppressed a grimace as they waited for her decision. It didn't sit well with him that someone so young would be taught Killing 101. They weren't mature enough.

Nozomi only needed to feel the disapproval from her father and Shikaku-sama to reach a decision. "I will have to decline, Shikaku-sama. I will join the Academy when I'm 6 as it is the average age of admittance."

Both men regained their lazy posture almost immediately and Hideki ruffled his daughter's hair as he ushered her to her room.

"I'm glad she chose not to go," Hideki said after his daughter's forms disappeared down the corridor.

"Troublesome," Shikaku sighed but there's no mistaking the relief in his voice.

He might not be the girl's father but she was still family – however distant – and it was easy to like the intelligent girl. She was his best shogi opponent since they first played four months ago. Her play style was interesting, full of trap over trap over trap. She had even won against him several times – a rare feat in itself – and she was only four years old. Their current score was 8-2 to him. He would have played with her more often if not because the aftermath of the war. He had to play against her again soon as he had been given a week of rest by the Hokage. Besides, it had been more than a week since their last game.

**- Nozomi Age 5 -**

Nozomi had been quite busy in the last year but it had gone well enough in her opinion. She had finally got her parents to divorce with several well-timed questions and critics at the absence of her mother on her fifth birthday. Thankfully, she had portrayed a mature and genius persona in the last year so no one was suspicious. It also helped that some of the child prodigy in this place – case in point Itachi and to a lesser extent his cousin, Shisui – were generally wiser than their age.

Currently, Nozomi was walking down the street of Konoha with Itachi beside her. They were discussing their day and informing the other of what they had achieved today in their private time.

"I finally mastered that shuriken technique from three days ago," Itachi informed her with a proud tone.

Nozomi hummed. "The one Mikoto-san taught you? Controlling the shuriken's trajectory utilizing ninja wire?"

"That one," Itachi confirmed, "And what did you do today with Kana-san?"

"I learned to treat compound fracture for arms or legs. Bones in other parts of the body are still too complex for me," she explained.

It was her new routine for the last four or so months, helping out at the hospital several days a week. One of the medics had taken an interest in her and decided to teach her some medical knowledge and jutsu. To the medic's pleasant surprise, the little Nara she had chosen soaked up everything like fish to water. Nozomi's experience from being a Lieutenant of the 4th Division in Gotei 13 really helped in this branch of study as she already knew human anatomy and most biochemical reactions – there were different components she had to learn still.

"That's impressive. How did you learn something that difficult in a day?" Itachi pouted.

I have 700 years' worth of experience and more than a century of that as Lieutenant in the Healing Division, Nozomi didn't voice that thought. Obviously.

"Tachi-kun, medical techniques are quite easy as long as you have excellent chakra control and good memory. You only needed to master the basics before you can conquer something more advance. Well, that's true for almost everything."

"I know that," Itachi sighed at the impromptu lecture, although he should know better than to ask something so stupid.

Their conversation was cut short when a familiar silver-haired figure landed in front of them. "Kakashi-san!" Both children exclaimed and continued worriedly when they took in the older boy's rigid posture, "What happened?"

"The Kyuubi has been sighted making its way to Konoha. Go back to your compound," he ordered curtly before he was gone as quickly as he arrived.

The pair glanced at each other and immediately sped off to their own compound. They knew an emergency when they heard one, and the strongest of Bijuu visiting Konoha was certainly an emergency because it was definitely not for a social visit. Nozomi especially knew the power of Bijuu because they were directly related to her deal with the King.

_That man will seek the power of the nine Bijuu to recreate the legendary Juubi and you have to prevent him from reaching that goal. The weakest of the nine tailed beast, Shukaku, has power equivalent to a seated shinigami. The power of a tailed beast almost doubled with the addition of a tail. I'm sure you can imagine the devastation if that man ever succeed in his goal._

Yes, Nozomi knew – or at least could guess – the power of this Kyuubi. If the weakest was already equivalent of a seated officer, what does that made the strongest? The nine-tailed had to have Captain-level power, maybe even at her captain's level or higher. And it was currently rampaging its way here. Scary thought that.

Chakra flowed through her feet as she manoeuvred around people until she reached the Nara compound. A group of people was gathered near the gate and Shikaku-sama was at the front with a small bundle in his arms. The Clan Head seemed to be waiting for something – or someone – because his eyes were searching the crowd. His eyes met hers and the tension seemed to bleed out of him. He focused his attention on the crowd in front of him and began to speak.

"As all of you might have noticed, Konoha has fallen into a state of emergency. It has been reported that the Kyuubi no Kitsune had been seen not far from the village and is making its way here," Shikaku informed gravely.

Pandemonium broke out. Whispers and horrified gasps bloomed from every part of the group although the civilian parts gave out louder reaction than the shinobi parts.

"Silence," Shikaku ordered sternly and the crowd gradually went silent, "Our clan has to be evacuated because this part is expected to receive some damage. All Chuunin and above have been ordered to report to the Hokage Tower. Genin will lead the civilians to the shelter and stay with them."

Nozomi felt hand grasped her shoulder and turned around to be enveloped in her father's hug. "Be safe, Zomi-chan," he whispered desperately into her hair.

"It will be ridiculous to wish you safe, but come back alive, Father," Nozomi hesitated for a moment, "I love you."

Hideki gave her a bright smile. "I love you too."

Nozomi watched as he shunshin away and turned around to follow one of the genin leading the way to the shelter when another hand gripped her shoulder. This time, she came face to face with Shikaku.

"Shikaku-sama?" she asked with confusion.

"Nozomi-chan," Shikaku shifted his arms which brought her attention to the tiny baby bundled in blue blanket, "Can you take care of Shikamaru for me?"

Her brows furrowed at the absence of his wife. "Where is Yoshino-san?"

Shikaku couldn't hide the grimace and disappointment from his face. "She left earlier."

Nozomi took in a sharp intake of breath as the implication sank in. Yoshino had abandoned Shikamaru-kun. Sorrow filled her at Shikamaru-kun's fate. He would grow without his mother's love. It was the same case with her but she was originally hundreds years old, not a real child.

A sense of protectiveness welled up inside her. "I will protect him, Shikaku-sama."

"Thank you," Shikaku said with relief palpable in his voice.

Nozomi carefully took the baby from his father and adjusted her hold so he would be comfortable even when she ran.

"Nozomi-chan, protect the others too. I know you can defeat every genin sheltered with you. Heal them if they are injured. Take charge if you have to," Shikaku said seriously.

"Understood, Shikaku-sama."

"Good. Go now," Shikaku pushed her in the direction of the nearest shelter.

Nozomi took a few steps then turned around to bow at her Clan Head. "Come back, Shikaku-sama. Shikamaru-kun will need you."

Shikaku watched as the girl straightened and sped off out the compound gate. He chuckled at her politeness even in this kind of situation. He waited until she had disappeared before he shunshin away. He wasn't worried about Shikamaru, he was in the best hands possible. When he thought about it again, it was interesting that he had more trust in a five years old than any other adults to care for his heir.

Time passed really slowly for the people staying inside the shelter. They didn't know what happen outside except for the occasional loud roars and booming sounds and violent vibration and the hard pressure of Kyuubi's chakra. Some of the stronger quakes even caused the ceiling to cave in and the people either moved or were buried in the earth. Thankfully, Nozomi quickly noticed that the cave in occurred around the area nearest to where the Kyuubi strike so she could led her group to move when she felt the Kyuubi neared. It was easy for her to detect because the Kyuubi contained a high amount of reiatsu – stronger than even Ukitake-taicho.

In the whole duration of the attack, Nozomi kept a steady shield of reiatsu around Shikamaru to protect him from the Kyuubi's chakra. Other people were not as lucky as the Nara heir and got the brunt of the immense pressure. Babies and young children were crying from the unseen threat while the teens and adults were highly-strung with worry and fear.

Her biological clock told her it was a little over eight hours when finally she felt another immense reiatsu appeared nearby. This one she vaguely recognized as the same one she felt during her imprisonment. The Soul King. She sat up straighter as she tried to monitor the situation outside. Why did the King come here himself? The Kyuubi was powerful, true, but the Royal Guard should be able to handle it. She tried to decipher the reading she got. Two reiatsu – the Yondaime's and Kushina-san's – disappeared only moments after the King arrived. At the same time, the Kyuubi's reiatsu seemed to...merge?...with another's but it was...dulled? When Nozomi focused back on the here and now, it was just in time to catch the tail end of a Nara jounin's announcement of the Kyuubi's defeat.

The day after, Nozomi heard about the Yondaime's death and that he had sealed the Kyuubi into an infant – Uzumaki Naruto, his secret newly born son. The aged Sandaime took back the Hokage hat and its loads of paperwork.

The week after, the Sandaime gave a village-wide announcement about a new law that made the real fact of Kyuubi's defeat into an S-rank secret and anyone speaking about it will be executed. The announcement was a reaction to the fact that there had been twelve different attempts of assassination on little Naruto just that last week.

**- Nozomi Age 6 -**

In the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack, Nozomi spent most of her days in the hospital treating the lighter injuries while the more experience medics took care of the more serious condition. People started on rebuilding damaged buildings and streets. Shinobi went on back-to-back missions to show that Konoha hadn't been weakened by the disaster so the village wouldn't fall prey to other villages – Iwa, especially, had been watching carefully.

All Konoha citizens worked overtime to cover for their greatly reduced population. Nozomi hadn't even talked to Itachi since before the attack, only catching glimpses from across the street at best. When she wasn't at the hospital, she was taking care of Shikamaru who had been more and more neglected by his mother. Yoshino usually went into the village 'helping out' with reconstruction while in reality she was gossiping with her civilian friends.

It was several months later, after the injured was healed and reconstruction was halfway done, Shikaku finally tired of Yoshino's absence and filed for divorce. He might have loved his wife once but his son was more important. Besides, her current behaviour quickly made any love he had dissipated. The other clan members – including Nozomi and his father – quietly approved with his decision because they had seen first-hand how the woman treated her son.

It was nearing the end of February when Nozomi's routine was disrupted. She was just walking past the gate of the compound after a day of personal training when the Chuunin guarding it addressed her.

"Good evening, Nozomi-san. Shikaku-sama asked you to meet him at his house as soon as possible."

Nozomi looked at the man quizzically. "Did he state his reason?"

The guard shook his head. "No, but it seemed serious."

Of course it was. Shikaku-sama wouldn't spend the effort to call her specifically if it wasn't. She had been coming and going to his house for Shikamaru-kun, he could have just caught her during one of those visits. Nevertheless, Nozomi thanked the guard and hurried to the main house.

The main house where the Clan Head and his family resided was located around the centre of the compound, at the edge the Deer Forest where they kept the deer for the Nara medicines. Thus, it took some time to reach it from the gate. Nozomi knocked on the door when she arrived, and Shikaku-sama appeared five seconds later. He appeared hassled as he gestured for her to come inside.

"Good evening, Shikaku-sama. Is Shikamaru-kun being difficult?"

Shikaku grunted and led her to the kitchen-cum-dining room where Shikamaru sat in a high chair. "He refused to eat everything I gave him. It has been nearly eight hours since his last feeding. Isn't baby supposed to eat frequently?"

"He should be," Nozomi peered into the baby's wide, dark eyes, "Maybe it's the Nara laziness showing itself."

"Troublesome," Shikaku grumbled, "Why don't you try to feed him? He usually likes you better." Shikaku glared half-heartedly at his troublesome son.

Nozomi smiled amusedly but took the bottle from the counter, "Hai, Shikaku-sama."

"You don't have to call me with –sama, you know." Shikaku mumbled as he slumped against the table.

"You are my Clan Head," she countered. She didn't want to add him to her list of people to care for. It was bad enough she cared for her father and Shikamaru, and Itachi to a certain degree. It would be hard on her when they or she died.

Shikaku sighed but didn't push anymore. He had breached that matter several times in the past months and the stubborn girl never said anything more. Instead he watched as she coaxed his heir to drink from the bottle. To his irritation, the little brat obediently sucked on the bottle. If he didn't know better, he would swear his son was being purposely difficult with him. But he did, Hideki's girl was just that good with Shikamaru. She had always been mature, but she acted like an overprotective mother hen with his son.

Fifteen minutes and one empty bottle later, Nozomi sat across from Shikaku with Shikamaru balanced on her lap. "Why did you ask me to come, Shikaku-sama?" She asked seriously.

Shikaku sighed and answered resignedly, "The council want you to enter the academy in the next academic year which will start next month."

"How many died from the Kyuubi attack?" She asked shrewdly.

Shikaku hesitated for a bit but relented at the determined glint in Nozomi's eyes. "Nearly a hundred overall."

Nozomi held back a flinch; instead she hugged Shikamaru a little tighter. That was a high number for Konoha who always preferred quality over quantity. From what she knew, Konoha shinobi forces only registered over five hundred active shinobi. They would have to produce more fresh blood for the next several years.

"I will go," she accepted, "It's only a year earlier anyway."

"I'm sorry, Nozomi-chan," Shikaku said regretfully. He had objected to the decision but he was outvoted. Damn that civilian council.

"It's alright. Not your fault, Shikaku-sama."

"But I'm your Clan Head," he repeated her earlier statement, "I'm supposed to protect my clan members and you are my responsibility."

"We are supposed to protect you and your heir. A body can't function without its head, but it can still function without an arm or a leg," she countered.

Shikaku froze then said through gritted teeth, "Who told you that?"

Experience, Nozomi thought wryly. "I think I read it somewhere," she shrugged easily.

"You don't..." Shikaku's words were cut off when Nozomi rose from her chair.

"It doesn't matter, Shikaku-sama. I will join the academy and it's not your fault. Besides, I will have Itachi-kun there so don't worry too much," she smiled reassuringly.

For a moment, it looked like Shikaku was going to push the issue but then he seemed to deflate and just mumbled incoherently. Nozomi challenged him into a shogi match to erase his dark mood. The next three and a half hours was spent fighting it out over the shogi board with Shikamaru sitting in her lap. Halfway through the game, Nozomi noticed Shikamaru's apparent fascination with the game and started explaining the game for him, although she knew he was too young to understand. Not thirty minutes later, she felt an extra weight against her front and looked down to see the baby sleeping peacefully. A fond smile tugged at her lips and she hugged him more securely to her.

Shikaku watched the adorable scene playing out in front of him. He hoped the girl wouldn't lose her compassion to the shinobi life she was going to lead soon enough. He might not be able to prevent the council's decision on early graduation, but maybe he could slow her progress through the shinobi rank. The civilian council would no longer have any say on the matter then.


End file.
